Fans have waited impossibly long for this to come to pass, and we’re finally here. kt Rolster players holding and smooching the 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs trophy is a vision haters and fans alike won’t be able to remove from their memories for some time to come.

The only people who’ll be happy about what happened during the 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs Finals are Afreeca Freecs fans, who’ve got a free ticket to Worlds 2018 due to Griffin’s loss. They’ve got the necessary amount of Championship points to book it straight there. Less fortunate teams will have to battle their way through the dark … pit … which is the gauntlet. SKT fans will be hoping that their team makes it through, but we’ll talk about the Regional matches later.

For now, we’re here to talk about all that went down during the 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs Finals.

History has been made this split.

The Finals Were Extremely Close

Props to us, since we accurately predicted that kt Rolster would win 3-2 in a really close series. Things worked out as if we had choreographed them in this match, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t holding onto our seats the whole time.

Griffin and kt Rolster weren’t playing League of Legends; they were playing with our feelings. The amount of back and forth teamfights, unexpected turnarounds and comebacks in this game was just incredible.

Why Griffin Lost

Griffin came much further than anyone thought they would, which is quite remarkable for such a young team. (Image via kenzi Flickr)

Let’s get one thing aside: Griffin played the match like champions. They made almost no mistakes at all, which is why they took it right to the last game against one of the best teams in the region. For Griffin to have come so far – literally one game away from winning the split – is truly remarkable.

When coming to the LCK, this team didn’t expect to beat MVP and Jin Air, and now look just how far they’ve come. It’s not too far fetched to think that this team could be the next SKT; they’re showing all the right signs. In fact, they might win the gauntlet yet and proceed towards their dreams of winning Worlds 2018.

Their demise was calculated on the side of kt Rolster. They knew that Griffin’s teamfighting was far too strong for them to handle. Up until Game 5, most of the teamfights had gone over to Griffin, even if kt Rolster had started off as the stronger side. The sheer fighting and positioning skills of Griffin made it impossible for kt Rolster to make it out alive, which is why they sought to shuffle up their strategy.

During the final game, their goal was to have a strong 1/3/1 composition with plenty of disengage, which they had to use frequently to avoid getting caught. From there on, they looked for every possible skirmish they possibly could, and picked off Griffin one by one.

Somehow Griffin had no idea how to respond to a passive strategy like this one, which ended up with them falling off slowly to the point where the 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs were no longer in their reach.

The Best Players of the 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs Finals

While literally every player on both teams performed spectacularly, some of them really stood out in our books. They took the match to the next level, hyped up the crowd and made the event worthwhile and memorable:

Score

This man probably had the best day of his life. 7 years … that’s how long he’s been trying to get his hands on the LCK split trophy, and he’s finally had one in his hands. It’s quite poetic, really: he got his trophy on the last LCK split that’ll be handled by OGN, which makes the victory special in a sense.

Not only did Score finally win the LCK finals, he also received the MVP of the Split award, further going to show just how instrumental he was for his team’s success. His plays on every champion he played, especially Taliyah, were spot on. What’s more, his strategy of securing Baron without smiting at all (which was probably a mistake in all likelihood), really came through and won the game for his team.

Deft

While Viper really handed it to him during the first game, Deft was able to extract revenge during the second game on Kai’sa in which he single-handedly took down 3 members of the enemy team; a play which ended up winning the game for his team.

Deft also played amazingly during the very last game of the match in which he was able to dish out incredible amounts of damage on his Xayah while maintaining safe distance from his opponents in following the team strategy.

Viper

Despite the loss, Viper has established himself as one of the most fearsome ADCs in the region. His most notable moment was during game 1, where he absolutely took off on Kai’sa against Deft’s Jinx. Everyone expected Deft to take off, but Viper was there to shut him down and then some, completely taking on the enemy team and running them down.

Sword

Sword was yet another Griffin player who impressed us beyond words. He was able to not only be a successful tank for his team, but also managed to make aggressive plays against losing matchups. He carried his team to victory on his Cho’Gath, gaining enough stacks to become nigh indestructible.

Final Thoughts

SKT will have one final chance to make it to Worlds – the regional qualifiers. (Image via kenzi Flickr)

The 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs were quite a lively event, and the different elements about it really freshened things up! Big teams like SKT and Kingzone DragonX stepped out of the spotlight to make way for other teams that never got any. Griffin are a team which much promise for the future of the region. Meanwhile, kt Rolster got their much deserved victory after years of trying. Stay tuned for our coverage of the regional matches to conclude the LCK split!

What did you think of the 2018 LCK Summer Playoffs? Were you hoping for a Griffin victory, or were you wishing for kt to finally take their win? Let us know in the comments below!

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